The prior art includes containers and jars that have removable and reclosable lids that snap onto a rim of the container. A barrier film may be provided between the lid and the container to initially cover the opening of the container. In order to use such containers, the lid is first removed to expose the barrier film. The barrier film can then be removed and the lid replaced on the container to permit selective opening and closing of the lid to gain access to the interior of the container. The barrier film can cause interference between the lid and the rim of the container. This interference can increase the amount of force required to remove the lid from the rim of the container prior to removal of the barrier film. However, simply adjusting the dimensions of the rim of the container and the lid to accommodate having the barrier film therebetween can result in a lid that can be removed from the rim of the container without the barrier film therebetween with an amount of force that is less than desired.
The prior art also includes reclosable screw top jars within which spreadable foods are contained, e.g., containers for foods such as mayonnaise, Miracle Whip® dressing, other viscous dressings, jams, jellies, nut butters and spreads. Such containers are intended to permit insertion of a knife, spoon or other utensil into the container. In providing a container for this type of product, among the considerations that must be addressed are the ability of the container to receive food product in high-speed commercial filling operations; the degree of difficulty that will be encountered by the consumer in removing product from the container; the ability of the container to withstand various loads, such as stacking loads, during filling, sealing, shipping, display, and consumer use; the ability of the container to be packed efficiently among like containers; the cost of manufacture of the container; the ability of the container to exclude air to enable acceptable shelf life to be maintained, and the costs and difficulty associated with forming, filling and sealing the container. It is also important that containers of this type be aesthetically pleasing where they are intended to be displayed for commercial sale to consumers in grocery stores and/or other retail establishments.
One container that addresses the above considerations is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/579,661. This container has many advantages over prior art containers, but is thought to be susceptible to label damage and/or destabilization under certain circumstances. For example, in high-speed commercial filling operations containers are often placed on a conveyor, directed to a filling station and a labeling station, then discharged from the conveyor. Often, when filled and labeled containers are discharged from the conveyor they are randomly oriented on a table or other surface where adjacent containers contact each other. This contact may damage the labels and destabilize the containers.